28 September, 2018: Team Taylor - A Month In

Team Taylor - A Month In

 Yesterday marked four weeks since we landed in the US - of course, it feels like months. And what a four weeks it has been!

Per my last post, we were lucky enough to find the perfect apartment for what we need, in a great location. Last weekend we 'moved' in - setting up the various bits of furniture we needed to buy. Our air freight arrived a few weeks back and amazingly, our sea freight arrived a few days ago - now just awaiting customs clearance.

We are - all four of us - camping on two blow up mattresses awaiting out beds :).




In between getting set up at our new home, there was still lots of fun being had: mini golf, lego building, swimming and awaiting deliveries. The first thing to arrive, via FedEx all the way from Philadelphia, was a cheese grater ;).


Juz and Harlin had their first ever experience at In n Out. Won't mean a lot to the Aussies, but it is a Californian institution. They have basically three menu items - and that's it. Apparently there is a secret menu - we are yet to go there.

We have also managed to spend our fair share of time at Walmart gathering lots of bits and bobs we needed. Harlin also managed to snag himself a new bike.



You are likely to hear me mention the food often. It's everywhere and delicious and huge and oh so hard to resist.... I managed to join the AMAZING Cisco gym here in San Jose - so let's hope I get some kind of balance going on really soon!


Last weekend Harlin had his first US haircut - getting ready for school.


 And with that, on Monday 10 September Harlin started school in the US at Louise Van Meter Elementary. With only 650 students, it's an easy 25 minute walk (scooter in Harlin's case) from our house, has so much amazing outdoor space and really lovely teachers.

Harlin is in room 7 and has two teachers, Ms Peach and Ms McEnery. He tells me he hasn't made any friends yet, but it shouldn't take too long! The school's mascot is a Bulldog :).



We haven't had a lot of time to do much exploring around Los Gatos as yet, but we will have lots of time soon. The town is really lovely with fairy lights on all the trees year round. Lots of great little bars and pubs and gorgeous boutiques.


And that gets us to today. End of week four and we are off for dinner at a colleague's house. Tomorrow we are off to Santa Cruz for the day - about an hour's drive.

So aside from the day to day, what are the little things we are loving or loathing.

LOVING
* Being able to u-turn at almost every traffic light
* Being able to turn right on red lights
* The shops are open late every night
* The weather is seriously great
* The mountains are so close, they don't look real - really beautiful
* The variety - of everything
* Parking is free everywhere (true!)
* There's a service that brings gas (petrol) to your car whilst you are at work!!!
* The Cisco gym is the best gym I have ever seen, and just a few $ a week...
* Los Gatos and the sense of community - so many events and activities
* Van Meter - great little school with lots and lots of activities for the adults and kids

LOATHING
* The traffic - it is really bad - but so far we are managing to work around it for the most part. Outaide of peak hours, it takes me 25 mins to drive to work, peak hour it is double that... (another motivation for me to be leaving the house at 545am each day to head to the gym)
* We miss public transport - it basically does not exist here (hence the traffic)

So far - not much not to love. More to come for sure as we explore more.

Off to enjoy our weekend - thanks for tracking our ride!

Juz, G, Harlin and Vegas
xxx

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